7 Mar 2015 Countdown to Home

The countdown begins! After 1 year of service in Chad, Africa we get to fly back into Asheville (AVL) on Mar 30 at 539pm!
After that, we have a 2 month whirlwind agenda: time in Asheville,NC-->then to Florida-->then back to AVL-->then we plan a scenic cross country drive to the Pacific NW and then back across to MA-->VA-->AVL-->then maybe a beach trip for a few days-->then FL--> then back to AVL for our return flight to Chad, Africa.
Lock your doors! If you live in, or near, any of these places my beard may be popping by to say hi smile emoticon

 — with Kimberly Womble McDowell.

21 Feb 2015 tay-Rez

21 Feb 2015 tay-Rez

I've become good friends with one of the local nurses in Pediatrics, Jonathan. Jonathan just had a baby girl born and he asked me to name her. What a humbling honor.
I'm choosing the name Thérèse (pronounced very Frenchy: put on a beret and twist your mustache while saying it: tay-REZ). It's the French version of Theresa. I was trying to think of a French name with symbolic meaning of someone who represents hope and love and giving.

Mother Teresa seems to be a fitting namesake.
Enjoy a few of her quotes:
"Make us worthy, Lord, to serve those people throughout the world who live and die in poverty and hunger. Give them through our hands, this day, their daily bread, and by our understanding love, give them peace and joy."

"You and I, we are the Church, no? We have to share with our people. Suffering today is because people are hoarding, not giving, not sharing.
Jesus made it very clear. Whatever you do to the least of my brethren, you do it to me.
Give a glass of water, you give it to me. Receive a little
child, you receive me."

18 Feb 2015 All better now

18 Feb 2015 All better now

When Helene came to pediatrics she was 7months old and weighed 5 kg. She was suffering with malnutrition, malaria and debilitating anemia. She also had a recto-vaginal fistula and no anus (a correctable surgical problem).
I can't say for certain why her parents brought her to the hospital...I guess maybe they wanted her to get better but I had to press them everyday to help me help her. I tried not to be judgmental but I was judging them big-time and I didn't like feeling like that.
Maybe they believed it was hopeless. Their daughter was defective. And that mom... She always smirked and smiled when we discussed her baby was dying. She said she hadn't breastfed her baby for 7 days?! I was angry almost every morning on Peds rounds. She was bed#1 and I was in disbelief each time we talked.
So baby Helene worsened day by day. Every day that dad wanted her to leave and I refused. I offered to pay for everything if they would stay. They stayed.
When Helene's hemoglobin got dangerously low, I had to ask them to give blood. They demanded to leave but I fought again for Helene. Then Danae fought for her too. Helene got her blood transfusion and I finally believed that she had a chance if her parents were going to try.
I started the next morning on Pediatric rounds ready to take on that family again but there was no need for a fight. Bed #1 was empty. Helene was already gone. I missed her by two hours and I didn't get to say goodbye...

With one gentle hand on my shoulder the nurse told me that my sweet baby Helene died that morning around 6am.

No more hunger. No more pain.
All better now.

17Feb2015 For the Friendly Lion

After 21 years with the same Littmann Cardiology II stethoscope, I now have a new Cardiology III. Thanks Mark & Megan Spindler Klein!
I had my last one longer than I've had my wife smile emoticon

22 minutes 14 Feb 2015

22 minutes 14 Feb 2015

Limp and lifeless. It didn't seem like a fair Valentine's Day gift for this mother. We just delivered her baby boy via C-section and he looked awful.
Just one hour earlier I had been enjoying a pot luck Valentine's lunch when my phone started ringing. Generally that's an unwelcome sound. We rarely call each other for social things because cellular minutes are expensive. When my phone rings, its nearly always something urgent.
After a quick chat I excused myself from lunch and dashed home to throw on my scrubs & head to the hospital for 2 potential C-sections. Fortunately the first was delivered with forceps and we hurriedly cleaned up & set up to deliver the second patient.
This would have been the 7th child for a mom who has had multiple C-sections in the past. The baby was delivered quickly but was completely limp and lifeless. Unfortunately I've grown accustomed to seeing newborns who need resuscitation.
Suction. Stimulate. Oxygen with an Ambu bag. We repeat this cycle again and again. This baby boy is going to die. I've seen it many times. Here in Chad, if a newborn doesn't breath in the first 10 minutes of resuscitation, they typically never do. We don't have a mechanical ventilator. I have kept babies alive in the past by hand ventilating for extended periods of time but eventually have to make the difficult decision to stop. Without respirations, a newborn's heart will slow and then stop in just a few minutes.
I was approaching that point today. This baby's pulse was strong but he just wouldn't breath on his own. Nothing. 5 min. 10 min. 20 minutes went by.
We paused our ventilation and watched him. At first it was just a small gasp but it was something! More ventilations, more stimulation and finally after 22 minutes we got our Valentines gift. He was breathing & he cried. LOUDLY! I truly had already given up on him
and I was just going through the motions.
We wrapped that baby boy in some fabric from his mothers dress and carried him over to her. She looked exhausted and didn't seem to respond to seeing her newborn son. I know she had watched much of our effort to resuscitate him and I wonder if she had given up hope as well. This is Chad, Africa. Babies die. She had seen 2 of her own children die before and I guess she was braced for that reality. But in a matter of seconds...her face softened and tears filled her eyes. Her baby boy is alive...and she loves him.

Happy Valentines Day.

22 Jan 2015 Where the streets have no name

22 Jan 2015

Where the streets have no name

    We have participated in several mobile medical clinics and provided care for hundreds & hundreds of people out in distant villages.  This outreach has HUGE potential and we are working toward acquiring more medications and reliable transportation.  We are visiting places far off the beaten path.  These villages are found on trails off of rutted up sandy roads. It reminds me of the song by U2 (& redone by Chris Tomlin): "Where the streets have no name".  Great song. Play it as you read this--

    2 nights ago we drove home from our mobile clinic deep in the bush. I was riding in the back of a pickup truck with 4 men, a mother and her baby girl and young son (plus 2 wooden benches, a stool, several mats, boxes of equipment and medications.  It was one of those reassuring and inspirational moments that remind me that its all worth it. The clinic was a huge success (Thanks Zach & Charis for Project 21) and I was now enjoying an open air view of a brilliant night sky from the back of a truck.  The hot dusty air blew in my face and parted my beard as I stared up at infinite stars and a sliver of a moon. We bounced along passed countless villages and saw people sitting around cooking fires in the pitch black darkness. I imagined elders telling stories to their children and grandchildren around those fires. There are practically no real books in this part of Chad so history is passed along through story telling.  

    I wonder if one night they may be telling stories about how the hospital or the church or God or even "you" reached out and made a difference.  We all have a part in shaping that history. 

 

-Mason

24 Jan 2015 Fatigué

24 Jan 2015     Fatigué

Je suis fatigué. [I am tired]. 

 I think everyone who serves here is tired too.  We work 6 days a week at the hospital and are on-call every night. This is busy season for the OR and we have about 2 more months before our annual leave.  Je suis fatigué... I haven't written much for a long time. Here are a few  highlights of our past few months: 

*Grace & Emmie are thriving. They are making friends and learning more French.  Our compound is surrounded by a wall and every day (morning & evening) kids are sitting on top wall calling "Grace"..."Emmie"...

"Give me ball" or "Give me water". 

We received 3 soccer balls in a care package and we loan them out every day and the local kids return them (almost) every night when they are done. We also give them fresh water to drink. It's such a little thing for us but it builds relationships and trust with our "neighbors".  The girls now frequently hop the wall to play with the locals. 

*We've had two great visits in Dec and Jan from friends/anesthesia students.  They all brought gifts and stories from home and really served to lift our spirits.  One group had perfect timing because a visiting anesthetist (Shawn) covered the OR for me (& gave me an IV!) while I was bedridden with malaria for 3 days. Everyone gets it--that's life in Chad, Africa. 

 Our 2nd visiting group brought fresh energy and encouragement. David kindly took on any project thrown at him & Jessica rolled up her sleeves and ran the OR like a seasoned anesthetist and not like a 3rd year student. They are future missionaries no doubt as they departed for home continuing treatment for malaria without complaint. 

*Three  Chadian nurses are still in-training to be safe anesthetists. They are mastering spinal anesthetics, learning simple pharmacology and how to administer general anesthesia. It is exciting to see them improving.

 

*We have received amazing donations from a few people and have been able to fund student tuitions, school supplies, and uniforms.  We could easily triple this with more resources. The need is so great and opportunity limited.  How do you break the cycle? Education is so important.  The issues Chad faces likely will be solved by a Chadian.  The kids we aid may help shape this country's future. 

*We have been able to pay for medication for many children in the village and on the pediatric ward whose families just couldn't afford care.  We continue to see kids needing treatment for severe malaria, typhoid, tetanus, meningitis, terrible burns from fire or scalding water, various cancers, snake bites, and debilitating malnutrition. Again, the need is great. 

*We have received many emails and care packages over the past several months. Your messages, care packages and prayers have been truly encouraging.  Life here is incredibly rewarding, incredibly stressful and exhausting!

So as I reflect on our time here, we are making an impact. You are part of that impact. 

Our family is getting used to dirty black feet, insects, heat, and lots of meals served with rice. We are ready for 2 months in the U.S. to eat well, relax and reconnect with you all.  If you want to hear stories, see pictures or have us over for a meal in April or May--please let us know.  Just don't serve rice & beans. Je suis fatigué of that meal :-)

  -Mason

"Love your neighbor as yourself"

         Matt 22:39